James
Squire Porter

Elusive,
shadowy, dark...porter exercises a fascination over all beer
lovers.

Michael
Jackson author of The World Guide to Beer, Ultimate Beer and Pocket
Guide to Beer

James Squire Porter is the dark horse in the Malt Shovel
Brewery beer range. It presents with an opaque dark colour with
hints of rich browns and reds with an initial soft creamy head that
purveys a pleasant malty
aroma. First taste shows mouth feel that is not as smooth as its stouter
sibling style but gives way to
familiar roasted barley flavours and a powerful hoppy bitterness.
Like all the Malt Shovel range this beer is well balanced and
extremely enjoyable. It will
leave you smacking your lips trying to soak up every drop of malty
flavour. Try and drink this beer slowly as it should be savoured
and not guzzled - otherwise you will miss the hidden meaning.
James Squire Porter keeps alive the traditions of the porter which do
not have the heavy and complicated characteristics of some stouts on the
market. This means you are
allowed to have a couple more after dinner than usual!

The porter is half way between our amber ale and a real stout in flavour complexity. It is not as thick and viscous as a stout, not quite as black, and has more chocolate/roasted coffee notes rather than harsh burnt smokey
finishes.

James
Squire Porter won two silver medals and a top-in-class award at the
recent 2002 Australian International Beer Awards in Melbourne.

5.0 % alc/vol

Food For Thought:

It goes without
saying that James Squire Porter is a great after dinner companion.
Its rich malt chocolate flavours lend well to a match with chocolate
cake and creamy dishes. In the summer months it would accompany
dried fruits and cheese platters. Lets also not forget the
traditional companion of the porter and stout, oysters. Sean
Symons, Malt Shovel Brewer, says James Squire "Porter and
oysters run a close second as an all round combination" for a beer
and food match. This beer is also uncomplicated enough to enjoy
with strong beef dishes such as porterhouse steak or a traditional beef
pie.

The porter style of beer is
said to be invented by London brewer Ralph Harwood, who grew tired of
making the popular drink Three Heads. Three Heads was a
combination of three traditional ales the nature of which is still
being debated. The new style was brewed with more hops which helped with
stability and longevity. The brew was matured in vast vats for
up to six months. Only the large brewers such as Barclay, Truman
and Whitbread could afford to build the expensive plants needed to
produce beer on such a large scale and also outlay the capital in
maturing beer. Porter became very successful and was widely distributed
and exported. Guinness in Dublin followed the trend and began
brewing its own porter. Sales declined in the 19th century when
the paler ales became more popular with only the stronger or
"stouter" ales surviving. In the Baltic countries
strong porters are still produced based on the export beers.
Other microbreweries are also staring to revive the tradition in the
UK, North America and of course Australia. It must be remembered
that the porter was not a boutique beer but in fact the first mass
produced brew.